Where We Started From
by GleekinFreak
Summary: High School AU - Chris Colfer is a freshman trying to survive high school. He meets a boy named Darren and the rest is history. Warnings - Mentions of bullying, possible self-harm (not sure yet), possible mentions of homophobia, Cory Monteith will be a reoccurring character


It was Monday. It was Chris Colfer's first day of high school, and he was scared to death. He had been bullied a lot in junior high, and he just knew that it could only get worse in high school. All of the kids were so _big_ in high school. Chris was small. He was only a freshman. And to make matters worse, he didn't have any friends to talk to. He was all alone.

When Chris got to his first period class, he sat down in a desk in the back of the classroom. He figured that the best way to survive school would be to stay invisible. If nobody noticed him, nobody could pick on him. Sadly, Chris' plan didn't work out as well as he had hoped. As he was walking down the hallway after first period, he accidently bumped into an upperclassman.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Chris said with wide eyes as he backed up a little bit away from the boy he ran into.

"Watch where you're going, fresh-meat," the boy scowled at Chris. The boy was skinny. He was skinny, but he was tall. He could definitely take Chris down.

"Take it easy, Joey," the shorter boy standing near Joey said. "It was an accident."

Chris frowned and looked up at the shorter boy. Somebody actually stood up for him. The boy was slightly taller than Chris but he was significantly shorter than Joey. He was good looking. He was _really_ good looking. And he was actually nice.

Joey rolled his eyes at the shorter boy and walked away.

"Sorry about that. He can be really rude sometimes," the boy sighed and ran his hand through his dark, curly hair. "I'm Darren. What's your name?"

"Oh. Um. I'm Chris," Chris said shyly. "Are you a senior?"

"No, I'm a junior. So is Joey. Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Chris. Maybe I'll see you around sometime," Darren smiled and walked off.

"Yeah, maybe," Chris said as Darren walked away. He watched him for a few seconds before snapping back to reality and walking to his next class.

A few hours later came Chris' most feared part of the day: lunch. He had no idea where to sit so he ended up just sitting at an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria. As he was taking out his lunch, Darren walked by the table.

"Hey, Chris," Darren smiled. "Are you sitting here all by yourself?"

Chris nodded slightly. "I don't really… I don't really know anybody…"

"That's okay. It's the first day of school. It's normal," Darren shrugged. "Why don't you come sit with me? I can introduce you to some pretty cool people."

"Are you sure?" Chris frowned. "I'm really okay by myself…"

"Oh, come on. Come sit with me."

"Okay," Chris stood up and followed Darren to his table. He sat down next to Darren and took out his lunch again.

"Everybody, this is Chris. Chris, this is everybody," Darren said as they sat down.

"Hi, everybody," Chris smiled a little and waved.

"Really, Darren?" Joey said quietly to him. "You're going to bring a shrimpy freshman into our group?"

"Shut up, Joey," Darren muttered. "Just leave the poor kid alone."

"Are you going to introduce us all by name?" the girl sitting on the other side of Darren asked.

"Oh, yeah. Of course," Darren nodded. "Okay, Chris. Sitting right across from you is Lauren Lopez. She's a sophomore, and sitting next to her is her boyfriend, Brian Holden. He's a junior like me. You've already met Joey. My brother, Chuck Criss, is sitting on the other side of you. He's a senior. And then this lady sitting next to me is my girlfriend, Mia Swier."

Of course Darren had a girlfriend. He was gorgeous. Why would Chris even think he was single? Even if Darren was single, the odds were slim that he even liked boys. Mia was pretty. They were a good looking couple.

"Nice to meet you all," Chris smiled.

"Our group used to be bigger, but a bunch of people graduated last year," Darren told him.

"So, Chris, you're a freshman?" Lauren asked.

Chris nodded.

"How has your first day been so far?"

"It's been okay," Chris shrugged. "Nobody's been horribly mean to me or beaten me up yet, so, I guess that's a good thing."

"Aww. Why would people be mean or beat you up?"

"I've always been made fun of for being gay," Chris said quietly.

"That's not right," Lauren shook her head. "Don't listen to them, Chris. People are jerks."

"But, we aren't jerks," Darren said. "So, if you ever need anything, you can come to any of us."

"That's really nice of you guys, but you really don't have to waste your time on a stupid freshman like me," Chris looked down.

"You're not so bad," Joey shrugged.

Darren raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry for being a dick earlier," Joey said to Chris.

"I'm used to it," Chris shrugged. "It's okay."

Joey smiled at him.

"So, is there anybody I should specifically avoid?" Chris asked them.

"Um…" Darren looked around the cafeteria. "Do you see that table over there?" he pointed subtly at a table across the room.

Chris nodded. "Who are they?"

"At the end of the table is Cory Monteith and his girlfriend Lea Michele. They're both seniors. They're practically royalty here. I would advise against getting involved with them and their posse. Once one of them hates you, the whole school hates you."

"You sound like you're speaking from personal experience," Chris said.

"We don't get along with them very well. They all get everything they want because Lea's parents are on the school board. They always get leads in the plays and musicals even though we're just as good as them."

"You guys sing?" Chris smiled a little. One of his favorite things to do was sing.

"Of course," Darren grinned. "Do you?"

"A little…" Chris shrugged.

"You should sing with us sometime."

Chris shook his head. "I don't know about that…"

"Aw, why not?" Lauren pouted.

"I don't know. Maybe some time."

"Awesome," Darren smiled as the bell rang. Everybody at their table stood up and went off to their next class. Darren stayed behind with Chris. "I'll walk you to your next class."

"Thanks," Chris smiled and walked with him.

"Here, give me your phone," Darren said when they reached Chris' classroom.

"Why?" Chris frowned. "Aren't you going to be late for class?"  
"It's okay, just hand it over," Darren held his hand out.

Chris reluctantly placed his phone in Darren's hand. Darren took it and put his number in it.

"There you go," Darren hand it back to Chris. "In case you ever need to talk or something."

"You really don't have to do that."

"Don't worry about it," Darren grinned. "I want to. I'll see you tomorrow."


End file.
